MARC 21 Format for Authority and Bibliographic Data

Initial Definite and Indefinite Articles

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Library of Congress

In some MARC fields, a numeric value (0-9) specifies the number of character positions associated with an initial definite or indefinite article to be disregarded in sorting and filing processes. Initial articles may also simply be deleted in the formulation of the heading. If the initial article is retained but is not to be disregarded in sorting and filing processes, the second indicator position contains value 0.

In the Bibliographic format, the first indicator position in the X30 Uniform Title fields (excluding field 830) and the second indicator position in fields 222 Key Title, 240 Uniform Title, 242 Translation of Title by Cataloging Agency, 243 Collective Uniform Title, 245 Title Statement, 440 Series Statement/Added Entry Title, and 830 Series Added Entry Uniform Title specify information concerning articles.

In the Authority format, the second indicator position in the X30 Uniform Title fields specifies article information.

The list below of definite and indefinite articles and the languages in which they are used is arranged alphabetically by the article. Some diacritical marks normally found (e.g., the macron used in transliterating Greek articles) have been omitted due to limitations in Web documents.

a English, Galician, Hungarian, Portuguese, Romanian, Scots, Yiddish
a' Scottish Gaelic
al Romanian
al- Arabic, Baluchi, Brahui, Panjabi (Perso-Arabic script), Persian, Turkish, Urdu (Note: al- is meant to cover all of the spellings in romanization (e.g., "as" in "as-sijill"))
am Scottish Gaelic
an English, Irish, Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Yiddish
an t- Irish, Scottish Gaelic
ane Scots
ang Tagalog
ang mga Tagalog
as Galician, Portuguese
az Hungarian
bat Basque
bir Turkish
d' English
da Shetland English
das German
de Danish, Dutch, English, Frisian, Norwegian, Swedish
dei Norwegian
dem German
den Danish, German, Norwegian, Swedish
der German, Yiddish
des German, Walloon
det Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
di Yiddish
die Afrikaans, German, Yiddish
dos Yiddish
e Norwegian
'e Frisian
een Dutch
eene Dutch
egy Hungarian
ei Norwegian
ein German, Norwegian, Walloon
eine German
einem German
einen German
einer German
eines German
eit Norwegian
el Catalan, Spanish
el- Arabic
els Catalan
en Catalan, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
enne Walloon
et Danish, Norwegian
ett Swedish
eyn Yiddish
eyne Yiddish
gl' Italian
gli Italian
ha- Hebrew
hai Classical Greek, Greek
he Hawaiian
he Classical Greek, Greek
he- Hebrew
heis Greek
hen Greek
hena Greek
henas Greek
het Dutch
hin Icelandic
hina Icelandic
hinar Icelandic
hinir Icelandic
hinn Icelandic
hinna Icelandic
hinnar Icelandic
hinni Icelandic
hins Icelandic
hinu Icelandic
hinum Icelandic
hið Icelandic
ho Classical Greek, Greek
hoi Classical Greek, Greek
i Italian
ih' Provençal
il Italian, Provençal/Occitan
il- Maltese
in Frisian
it Frisian
ka Hawaiian
ke Hawaiian
l' Catalan, French, Italian, Provençal/Occitan, Walloon
l- Maltese
la Catalan, Esperanto, French, Italian, Provençal/Occitan, Spanish
las Provençal/Occitan, Spanish
le French, Italian, Provençal/ Occitan
les Catalan, French, Provençal/Occitan, Walloon
lh Provençal/Occitan
lhi Provençal/Occitan
li Provençal/Occitan
lis Provençal/Occitan
lo Italian, Provençal/Occitan, Spanish
los Provençal/Occitan, Spanish
lou Provençal/Occitan
lu Provençal/Occitan
mga Tagalog
mga Tagalog
mia Greek
'n Afrikaans, Dutch, Frisian
na Hawaiian, Irish, Scottish Gaelic
na h- Irish, Scottish Gaelic
nje Albanian
ny Malagasy
'o Neapolitan Italian
o Galician, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Romanian
os Portuguese
'r Icelandic
's German
't Dutch, Frisian
ta Classical Greek, Greek
tais Classical Greek
tas Classical Greek
te Classical Greek
ten Classical Greek, Greek
tes Classical Greek, Greek
the English
to Classical Greek, Greek
to Classical Greek
tois Classical Greek
ton Classical Greek, Greek
ton Classical Greek, Greek
tou Classical Greek, Greek
um Portuguese
uma Portuguese
un Catalan, French, Italian, Provençal/Occitan, Romanian, Spanish
un' Italian
una Catalan, Italian, Provençal/Occitan, Spanish
une French
unei Romanian
unha Galician
uno Italian, Provençal/Occitan
uns Provençal/Occitan
unui Romanian
us Provençal/Occitan
y Welsh
ye English
yr Welsh
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